Saturday, October 10, 2009

REPORT CARD on DP 2009

Introduction

Coupon tickets tell us, number of people registered in the Front Desk, throughout the day of 4th October is 115. And if you would like to add, less than 10-year old girls and boys that frolicked around in the Arena, the total number of human beings will be 125 around. A mighty number I say, given, the Venue that we had chosen. (funny part is, we actually did not get to make a choice, this time, either the Date or the Venue, it was preordained by intangible beings who reside in the far-away galaxies and beyond)

Present Status

Post Pujo, the video, the audio and the image files got themselves posted in a webbed space; effort and time needed to unravel all those webs and stack them up comprehensively, so that people have a one-stop solution to look and peek into them. I had been told, "they" are working on this. I am not aware of the specifics of "they". Let's assume, "they" are there and they exist and it will get done. Details of finances are being worked out. There would be a buffer amount left in the BSSM bank account, which would enable us to give an impetus in the next BSSM show, whenever it is.

Review

Reviews and feedbacks had been overwhelmingly positive for Pujo 2009.
Leaving aside the gladdening ones, let's look at some of the murmurs and whispers that had gone around : " Why do we meet only one time a year?" (an age-old universal complaint, only that, the decibels had been tad bit higher, this time). "Why did we not plan this much earlier, we could have had a better Venue and a Saturday to our advantage ?" "Why this was not publicized elsewhere ?" Many more. Let's look at each of the components in separation.

a) Pre-production stage: Grade A+

Bodhisatwa masterminded this time's pre-production stages with his deft touches, supported by Sonia, Shameek and myself. He had this idea of sharing Google spreadsheet within the list. It kept tabs on many and we were able to tighten up many loose screws. It was damn important, since we were running on limited resources with respect to finances and time.
However, it lost its way a bit at the final stages, days before the Event. Wish we could have perforced that.
Suggested solution:-Through email-list or google spreadsheet or website or through Blog, this planning stage should start early, preferably a year before. So, for example we should start thinking about 2010 from now. The more you will keep it for the last month, the greater are the chances of failure to fine-tune it. We know all this. Nothing new. Yet we forget. I wish I had a hard-coded solution to suggest for this, other than the obvious:
1) Are we doing a proper house-keeping of the usable and reusable items, that we have gathered over these years ?
2) Are we clear what we are set out for and what kind of preparation would it need ?
3) Are we in a position to speculate the number of audience we can draw ?
4) Are we in a position to speculate the money that we might end up using ?
5) Everybody will have primary engagements with respect to profession and similar pursuits, and on an obvious note there would be demands that need to be met personally. Can't we plan and manage ourselves, create a separate window for this Event, and this time of the year, from a year ahead ? It will make each of our responsibilities lighter and easier for the volunteer next to us.
Comment:-By far this time's was the best one. Way better than the previous 4 years.

b) Website, Email-list and Information Dissemination : Grade A-

Website does not have "all" the current details. It does not map the information correctly as conveyed in the Email list. Confusion created in the process of information dissemination.
Suggested solution:-Two dedicated people who have the requisite skills should put up their hands and work on this. World will look at us through our website. It needs extreme care.
Comment:-It is miles ahead than any other Bengali Society related website I had seen, given the amount and kind of information we handle.

c) Pujo, Bhog, Ayojon and Purohit: Grade A+

Why was there no pujo-r nirghonto ? There was no prior public information, what is going to happen in Pujo and how. Do take into account, we perform the Pujo in an abridged manner, which might irk many people's sensitivities. We need to be more careful and vigilant on this.
Purohit, Subhrajit did an extremely good job, this time, by far the best. What if, he is not around next time, do we have a back-up ?

a) Can we have a Chondipaat next time when the Pujo is on, before or after ?
b) Can we have Bhajan songs when the Pujo is on, before or after?
Suggested solution:-More people need to brainstorm on this part, beyond the present duo of Nilanjana Di and Subhrajit. Anything else going wrong or misplaced in Durga Pujo is acceptable, but not this one.
Comment:- Given the resources we had and the significance attached, we did an extremely good and a brave job of this one, ably supported by volunteers.

d) Protima: Grade A

We can only add number of plusses to the alphabet A in future. Where would you see such an in-house effort, breaking the norms and subtly avoiding the traditional ? It happens only here.
Suggestions:-Do we know, what is going to be our next time's presentation ? Surely we are not thinking of getting one from Kumartoli, anytime in future, like many other NRI organizations do.
Comment:-Refer to e).

e) Pandal, Decoration and Lighting: Grade A-

Factoring in, we have the best of the best creative minds at one place, why couldn't we push the envelope in design? What is going on, is not only fine, it is extremely brilliant. Note, the number of fine design minds accumulated at a single place; much was expected from this section. Here is a section, where everybody can go wild with imagination and creativity and unleash them. Think about your school or college days or in your locality, wherein you came up with some stunning designs and installations. Why does it look constricted in comparison with the potential it has ? It has to improve. This is a major component where you can generate maximum feel-good factor and hence brand, value and legacy. Passion and spirits will sleepwalkingly follow.

a) Can we have a chandelier at place next time ?
b) Can we have arrangements for Dhaki next time ?

Suggested solution:-Get organized and focussed. Look at the other decoration examples from the web. Innovate. Remember, this is the only place where you can score points. And this is the only place where points are scored in a Durga Pujo. "jaanish toh, okhaane lighting-ta daruun hoyeche", "okhaane pandal-ta oshadharon korechilo."
Comment:-It was fine and dependent on the Venue we had. Maybe overall presentation could have been improved by a mere 5% , going by the initial plans we had. Executing 95% is no mean achievement and it means something and speak volumes about the desire and the efficiency of the volunteers who had put their hearts in it.

f) Culturals and Sounds: Grade A

Why wasn't there a list of participants ready with their items beforehand ? Why is there no "natok" in this section ? Why isn't there much variety in the overall cultural presentation ?
Why are we not getting the "sound" of pristine quality ? Why are there stop-s and start-s in between ? Why is it looking like, that the participants had rehearsed for few days and somehow managed to get themselves up in the stage and still deciding what to do and what not to ? Are all the individual talents or groups alike getting a space in the main show ? Are we keeping proper tabs to allow that? Are we ensuring an atmosphere that everybody is performing to the best of the their abilities? Is there necessary and sufficient communication happening between the interested participants during the time of rehearsals?
Suggested Solution:-More practise sessions and detailed planning are required if you want to give it any chance of improvement. There can be 101 points mentioned here. I will leave it for now.
Comment:-I know, how late everything began with respect to preparations of Pujo and I did not expect it would be such a superb one. Kudos to all ! Quiz was consistent and extremely a good show.

g)Food, Lunch and Dinner: Grade A+

Why was there no Bijoya-r mishti served ? Given that we are dependent on Indian restaurants to serve our food, and I don't think it can change in the next 10 years, there is no physical way of improving the quality of food. The resources we had in Twin Cities, it couldn't have been budgeted any better.
Suggested Solution:-Not one I can think of.
Comment:-It is commendable to serve out a Saturday dinner, Sunday morning Bhog, Lunch, Tea and Snacks and then Dinner.

h) Magazine: Grade B

Why were some of the copies have to be photocopied ? Why the formatting is dependent on Purnendu-da? Who is the alternative? Why isn't there a web-magazine ? Why are there no continuous contributions in the Blog ? It is unbelievable, that each BSSM member is exposed to world of information and facts and they are not sharing their views and opinions through articles. This is totally unacceptable. All of them have strong opinions and viewpoints and are extremely sensitive being, yet we had not been able to create a podium where people would feel free to share them. A student's society that don't have a good outlet of opinion and expressions, is bordering itself on an oxymoron !! You have to excuse me for I had to resort to such sardonic sarcasm.
Suggested solution:-Much like the Information affairs, dedicated people are needed for this as well. Increased participation from all is required.
Comment:-Given that we are housed in an University setting, we should have done a good job of getting the Magazine to perfection. We are falling short of our own expectations. We need to raise the bar more. We are still at School-level.

i) Finances: Grade B+

Approximately, 2400 dollars were used as opposed to 2800 dollars generated through various sources. The presentation that we had put up, easily 400 dollars of expenses could have been trimmed down, if we had planned it well and thought about the specifics much earlier.
Suggested solution:-Refer to a).
Comment:-It gives me great pride in sharing you this fact, this is one component which had led to split in so many groups and organizations in past, all over the world; but, BSSM has been intact in spite of the fact it handle finances of such amounts each year and for a continuous run of 5 times, without an iota of conflict. The grade awarded had to be a poor one. In these times, one can't afford to give a good grade to management of finances, for, that can give rise to horrible financial speculations. Each one of us know through the Forbes and the Fortune-s what can horrible financial speculations lead to.

Sincerely,
Saurav Mitra
P.S.:-This is not a self-complete comprehension.